Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 larry.campbell@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Larry L. Campbell, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


February 22, 2019


The Honorable Bud Estes, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Statehouse, Room 136-E
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Estes:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 183 by Senate Committee on Judiciary
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 183 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 183 would create the Extreme Risk Protective Order Act, which would allow the courts
to grant an order prohibiting defendants from owning, controlling, or purchasing a firearm or
ammunition for up to one year, if the court finds that the defendant poses an immediate danger to
themselves or others. The bill would allow a law enforcement officer or a family member of the
defendant to file a petition for an Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO). The bill would allow
the court to search criminal and health records of the defendant to examine potential grounds to
issue the order. Additionally, the court could issue an ERPO without having the defendant present,
but the bill would require that the hearing be held within 14 days of receiving the petition. If the
defendant is not present, the court could consider certain crimes the defendant was previously
convicted of as grounds to issue the order. After an order has been issued by the court, the bill
would require that it be personally served by a law enforcement officer, if possible. A district
judge would be able to issue an ERPO when the court is unavailable, but the order would expire
at 5:00 p.m. on the first day the court is available.
Once an ERPO has been issued, the defendant would be required to relinquish all firearms
and ammunition to law enforcement. The bill would also allow the defendant to request a hearing
to terminate the order by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that they do not pose a
significant danger to themselves or others. Conversely, plaintiffs would be able to submit a request
for a renewal of the ERPO within three months of termination of the order. The bill would require
that an ERPO include a statement that the defendant cannot control, own, possess, purchase,
The Honorable Bud Estes, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 183

receive, or attempt to purchase or receive a firearm or ammunition; information on how to
relinquish their firearms or ammunition to law enforcement; the grounds that support issuing the
order; a statement that the defendant has the right to request a hearing to terminate the order; and
a statement that the defendant may request legal counsel regarding the order. The bill would also
make fabricating information in the ERPO petition a class C misdemeanor. Violations of an ERPO
by a defendant would result in a five-year prohibition from owning, controlling, or purchasing
firearms or ammunition.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) indicates that enactment of SB 183 could result
in additional expenditures of $100,000 to $500,000 from the State General Fund beginning in FY
2020 and spreading over a three-year period due to the potential filing of a civil lawsuit against
the State of Kansas or a state employee to challenge the Act. The OAG indicates that it may have
to refer such cases to outside counsel due to in-house caseloads. The OAG also indicates that any
potential lawsuits filed in state or federal court would likely require litigation in both district and
appellate courts. Additionally, if a federal lawsuit challenging the Act was accepted by the
Supreme Court of the United States, the OAG indicates that the costs of defending the state would
likely exceed $500,000 in additional State General Fund expenditures.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) indicates that enactment of SB 183 would
require additional expenditures of $150,000 to $750,000 from the State General Fund in FY 2020
to create and maintain a searchable database in order to provide information to law enforcement
regarding the renewal, denial, dissolution, or termination of ERPOs as well as provide aggregate
statistical data to the public. Additionally, the KBI specifies that it would need to hire 1.00
Program Consultant FTE position at a cost of approximately $60,305 from the State General Fund,
including $54,820 in salaries and wages and $5,485 for other operating expenditures. The Program
Consultant would be responsible for reporting ERPOs to the National Instant Background Check
System for firearm purchases, managing the ERPO database, and training courts and law
enforcement agencies on using the ERPO database.
The Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) indicates that enactment of SB 183 would
increase the amount of time spent by district court judicial and nonjudicial personnel in processing,
researching, and hearing cases as well as supervising offenders convicted of violations of the Act.
Additionally, the OJA indicates enactment of the bill could increase revenues from the collection
of fines. However, the fiscal effect cannot be estimated because the additional amount of time to
process, research, and hear cases as well as supervise offenders and the number of fines that would
be issued is unknown.
The Kansas Sentencing Commission and the Kansas Department of Corrections indicate
that enactment of SB 183 would have no fiscal effect on the operations of either agency. Any
fiscal effect associated with SB 183 is not reflected in The FY 2020 Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties and the League of Kansas Municipalities indicate that
enactment of SB 183 could increase expenditures of local law enforcement agencies due to the
increased workload to serve ERPOs and seize firearms and ammunition. Additionally, the bill
The Honorable Bud Estes, Chairperson
Page 3—SB 183

could increase revenues to local law enforcement agencies because they would be able to charge
storage fees to defendants for seized firearms and ammunition. However, the fiscal effect cannot
be estimated because the number of ERPOs that would be served and the number of firearms and
ammunition that would be seized is unknown.


Sincerely,

Larry L. Campbell
Director of the Budget


cc: Paul Weisgerber, KBI
Willie Prescott, Office of the Attorney General
Janie Harris, Judiciary
Chardae Caine, League of Municipalities
Jay Hall, Association of Counties
Linda Kelly, Corrections
Scott Schultz, Sentencing Commission